Ticket receiving and delivering apparatus



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. A. MILLIKEN.

TICKET RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS. No. 468,981. Patented Feb. 16, 1892.

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(No Model.)

J. A. MILLIKEN. TICKET RECEIVING ANI) DELIVERING APPARATUS. .No. 468,981.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 3, J. A. MILLIKEN.

TICKET RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.' No. 468,981. Patented Feb; 16, 1892.

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(No Model.)

J. A. MILLIKEN.. TICKET RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Patented Feb. 16, 1892.

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- attoznm q msmnmn u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. MILLIKEN, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK.

TICKI IT RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters I'atent No. 468,981, dated February 16, 1892. Application filed Parla 3,1391. Serial 110,380,090. momma) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. MILLIKEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ticket-Selling Apparatus and Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has special reference to a fare or ticket receiving and selling apparatus or system in which the tickets as soon as 'collected are returned to the ticket-seller through a tube leading from the receiving-box, so that they can be immediately sold over again.

The object sought to be accomplished is to construct a machine or apparatus adapted to use a metallic ticket or fare having an exact and peculiar. form and made of hardened steel or other extremely durable material, so

that the expense to acounterfeiter would be too great to make counterfeiting profitable,

and so that the ticket-receiving machine can be constructed to such a nicety that all extraneous or improper matter will be separated and at once detected,.while the proper ticket -is permitted to pass freely and uninterruptedly through the machine; second, to construct suitable means which will receive and be operated by a ticket having a size and form convenient to carry and handle, whereby they can be sold either singly or in bunches; third, to provide a device for the ticket-seller which will enable him to use either a bunch of tickets or a single ticket and which will register both; fourth, to provide exceedingly simple and durable devices, means, and mechanism for receiving, detecting, separating, using, and registering fares.

Figure 1 represents a general exterior view of my complete invention; Fig. 2, a sectional casing is removed to disclose the interior;

Fig. 4., a top view, partly in section; Fig. 5, a

detail view of the registering and selling mechanism, Fig. 6, an enlarged transverse section through the lower part of line X X,

Fig. 3; and Fig. '7,a top view of the registers, part of the cover being'broken away.

lVit-h this purpose in view my invention consists in the peculiar features and combination of parts more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

The fare-receiving mechanism is inclosed within the usual box a, such as used at railway-stations, and it is connected with a delivering and registering apparatus I), located at the ticket-sellers window, by an overhead return-tube c, all of which general arrangement is old and well known in the art. -In the upper part of the receiver a are placed the usual sloping surfaces a, upon which the tickets are thrown and from whence they fall into a drawer a". This drawer has a pivoted bottom d to permit the tickets f after they have been inspected to be dumped into a flaring mouth d, leading to the return-tube c and a separator 01". The bottom (1 is held normally in a horizontal position, and its surrounding sides a" are movable horizontally by a handle 6 to be operated by the receiving agent, who can pull the drawer toward him and draw 0% into the receptacle below any improper tickets or deposits, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The pivoted bottom (I is raised and lowered by a verticalrod 6, having its upper end hinged to the bottom and its lower end pin- 'oin'ed to an arm 6" extendin at ri ht an les J a a: a a

and attached to the end of a rock-shaft y. This rock-shaft is provided with a pinion f, ratchet f, and pawlsf' and rotates in bearings in vertical plates 9 g and brackets 9'. These plates are placed a short distance apart in order to leave a space or channel g for the reception, edgewise, of the incoming tickets, as seen more clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, and a forc ing-wheel 71 islocated within this space and is secured to rotate with the shaft y, and the periphery of the wheel is provided with spokes h, placed a sufficient distance apart to accommodate one of the circular metallic tickets. between them, as shown in Fig. 3. The

shaft 3 is rotated bya toothed sector h upon The metallic tickets f, designed especially to co-operate with my machine, consist of a circular disk of hardened and ground steel, and these are to be issued from the delivery apparatus Z), and then dropped by the purchaser into the box a. A horizontal separating-shaft 7c is located opposite the lower part of the mouth (1 and extends parallel with the channel g. This shaft is given an intermittent rotation by means of a vertical rack l, pawl l, ratchet l, and loose pinion Z', the latter being actuated by the lever t' through the medium of a link to, more clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A series of fingers 7c are secured to rotate with the shaft 70, their ends it" projecting at right angles therefrom and being arranged in a spiral row for the purpose of successively acting on bad fares 0, like a screw, as they fall into the machine, so that such deposits will be moved along in the channel 9" and ejected through an exit at, Fig. 3, at one side of the mouth (1. The fingers pass into a series of recesses m in the side of the plate g, and the ends 7d pass through this plate across the space g and into recesses m" in the opposite plate g. A series of rests or supports n are arranged transversely across the channel g, being located between the recesses m to form a sieve for the purpose of catching bad tickets, coin, &c., which may fall upon them. These supports n are placed such an exact distance apart that good tickets will drop through and roll down to the lifting-wheel below.

The recesses m are located at one side or just back of a vertical line drawnthrough the largest diameter of the ticket or improper matter 0, so that as the fingers revolve the ends 70' will catch the lower edge of coin or counterfeits just back of their lowest point and roll or move them along laterally on the supports 01 in the narrow space g, at the bottom of the mouth (1' and drop them through the exit m. The finger ends lt' are movable endwise in the fingers 71) and are provided with coil-springs n, whereby said ends are permitted to yield in case they should catch against the side of a descending ticket. They also serve to loosen any blockage of tickets that might form in the mouth (1.

The tube or way 0, as will be better seen in Figs. 4 and 6, has one side open, and the tickets are retained therein by longitudinal flanges p. The widest diameter of the interior of the tube is vertical in transverse section to permit the tickets to roll upon their edges from the receiving to the delivering apparatus. Before the tickets reach the mouth of the tube 0 they fall onto and roll down a very narrow ledge 15), formed on the plate g, an opening g being left between the two plates to permit thinner foreign matter which may have passed through the separator above to fall through to the hopper below.

The inclined track or ledge 13 is attached to the vertical plates 9 and lies within the space 9" and projects just far enough to carry a circular ticket of the predetermined size. The width of space 9 is such as to exactly receive the proper ticket, no surplus room being left between the sides of the ticket and the plates. Hence it will be seen that an object thicker than a good ticket will not enter said space,while thinner ones drop through to the hopper below.

As seen in Fig. 5, the ticketsf pass from the tube or way 0 into a cylindrical tube q in the delivering apparatus 1), and this tube empties the tickets into a circular recess q in a measuring-slide g, which recess is adapted to register withthe tube and to receive a predetermined number of tickets. In the present case it is adapted to receive five tickets, as denoted by dotted lines. This slide q rests upon another slide r, adapted to receive one ticket only, so that the seller can issue either a single ticket or a bunch of five or six tickets. Both slides are supported on a shelf 0", provided with a discharge-opening 0", adapted to register with the openings in the slides. Springs ttare attached, respectively, to the casing 11 and ratchetlevers s, and serve the double purpose of withdrawing the pawls for a new purchase and pushing the slides out to their normal position. An additional recess 8 is made in the lower slide, so that the discharge-opening 4- will always be clear to discharge the contents of the upper slide when the lower slide is drawn out. Both slides are connected through the medium of levers s with registers s, so that either or both will register when operated.

Having thus set forth the preferred construction of my device, I will now proceed to give a general description of its operation.

\Vhen a passenger or other person wants a ticket, the ticket-seller at the window where the delivering apparatus 1) is located can dcliver it by pushingin the lower slide 7', which operation will cut off one ticket from those piled up in the tube 0 and slide (1' above and discharge it through the opening 0', as seen in Fig. 5. Then letting go the slide, the latter will be forced back by the springt, which brings the opening 7* into coincidence with the opening 1" in the upper slide and the opening 5 over the dischargeopening 0''. Now if the purchaser wishes a bunch of five tickets the ticket-seller pushes in the upper slide against the tension of spring 25, which operation will bring the opening q" into coincidence with the openings 0" and r and allow five tickets to drop out. Should a purchaser want six tickets at once, then both slides qrcan be pushed in together, thereby cutting off the'requircd number and drop ping them through the opening 1'. The receiver of the ticket or tickets then deposits it or them in the box a, where it strikes the inclined surfaces a, from which it passes into the drawer a. The receiving agent then tilts the bottom of the drawer to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l by actuating the lever i, which rocks the shaft 1'' and pulls down lever 6. (Shown in dotted lines.) Simultaneous with the tilting of the bottom a" direction denoted by the arrows.

the separator-shaft 76 is rotated through the medium of link m, rack Z, loose pinion Z, pawls Z, and ratchet l, thedownward movement of the rack having no effect on the shaft, and hence it will be seen that the latter is given an intermittent rotary motion in the After entering the mouth (1' the tickets fall into the space or channel 9 between the plates 9 g and onto the inclined ledge 19', down which they roll to the forcing-wheel h, as shown in Fig. 2. The downward movement of the rack l closes the bottom of the drawer a, and the sector h simultaneously rotates the forcing or lifting wheel to elevate the tickets and send them forward through the tube a to the seller, who sells them over again. If a larger ticket or an improper coin 0 should be cast in the machine, the fingers 10 will catch it and lift it up and forward over the supports n, as shown in dotted lines, and as the fingers are arranged in spiral rows such deposited matter will be carried forward step by step and discharged through exit 0%, while thin or under-size deposits will drop down between the plates g g to the receptacle below.

Among the advantages of my invention over those previously in use are,first, that all foreign or improper matter suchas an oddsize five-cent piece, a battered coin, or, in fact, anything not exactly the size of the ticket intended for itwill not be permitted to enter the return way or tube, but will be thrown out before reaching it; second, by having steel tickets which have been hardened and ground to a nioety, as before stated, the expense to a counterfeiter would be too great to make counterfeiting pay; third, hardened steel tickets possess extreme durability and will last a great while before they will become too much worn for use; fourth, that passengers or purchasers can be supplied with one ticket, or a bunch of them, as desired, for being hardened and ground. The tickets may he carried in the pocket for an indefinite period, yet when used will be sufficiently true to pass through the machine. 7

It is evident that my invention could be varied in many slight ways which might suggest themselves to a skillful mechanic. Therefore I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown, but consider myself entitled to all such variations as come within the spirit and scope of my device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a ticket receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a receiving-box, a separating device provided with gaged bars, a rotary shaft provided with fingers adapted to pass up between said bars to throw out extraneous matter, a return tube or way, and an elevator for forcing the good tickets through said tube, all arranged and adapted to operate in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a ticket receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a receiving-box containing a dumping-drawer, a pair of plates separated to form a space or way for circular disk-shaped tickets, an inclined track located within said space, a separator having gaged bars located across; the same, a rotary shaft having fingers adapted to pass through the spaces of the separator, a tube or way leading to a delivering apparatus, and an elevator for forcing the tickets up through the way to said apparatus, all arranged and adapted to operate in the manner set forth.

3. In a ticket receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a receiving-box provided with a drawer, a pair of plates located below the drawer and separated to receive a circular disk-shaped ticket, a separator having gaged bars located across the upper part of the space, and a rotary shaft provided with spirally-arranged fingers having their ends passing through the spaces between the bars in the separator, said finger ends being movable endwise within the fingers, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

4.. In a ticket receiving and delivering apparatus, a receiving-box provided with a pair of plates spaced to receive tickets between them, a separator having gaged bars placed across the mouth of the space to arrest extraneous matter, and a rotary shaft provided with spirallyarranged fingers having their ends adapted to pass up successively through the spaces between said bars and at a point one side of the middle of the spaces, whereby the extraneous coins are intermittently acted upon and ejected, while good ones are permitted to pass through, as set forth.

5. In a ticket receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a receiving-box provided with a dumping-drawer, a pair of vertical plates separated to receive circular disk-shaped tickets, a separator containing gaged bars placed across the mouth of said ticket-receiving space, whereby extraneous matter is arrested and good tickets permitted to pass through, an inclined track located between said plates below said separator and on which the good tickets fall, said track being narrower than the tickets and having an open space alongside of it to permit thinner matter to drop through, a rotary shaft having fin gers with ends arranged to successively pass up through said spaces between the bars in the separator, an elevating device located at the lower end of the track, a return tube or way leading therefrom, and a delivering apparatus located at the opposite end of said tube, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in. presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. MILLIKEN.

Witnesses:

G. W. BALLooH, WILL T. WoonLEv.

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